Is a minivan really the BMW we've all been waiting for?

Easy there all you passionate BMW fans, hardcore machinery like the M3 sedan and M4 sport coupe are still essential parts of the German automaker’s DNA.

But when BMW’s Senior VP of Product Management and Aftersales, Hildegard Wortmann, said the ‘M-word’ during an interview with the Daily News Autos here in Geneva, well, we swear we heard the high-pitched squeal of a car panic braking.

Did she just say that customers have asked BMW to build…a minivan?

The 2-Series Active Tourer is BMW’s addition to the growing market for premium people movers.

The Active Tourer is expected to come to the U.S. in about 15 to 16 months.

(Nick Kurczewski)

“People have asked why there is no minivan from BMW,” explained Hildegard. The Active Tourer fills a niche for BMW customers who need extra room, but might not want the added size or expense of a crossover or SUV.

Hildegard says the response the Active Tourer, which debuted a couple years ago as a concept, has been “very positive.”

The cabin certainly is a cut above what we’d typically imagine in the minivan segment. The cargo area is spacious, and the split-folding rear seat comes in a useful 40:20:40 arrangement.

A split-folding rear seating and a spacious cargo area put the Active Tourer's cabin a step above the standard minivan interior.

(Nick Kurczewski)

Yes, we’d still prefer an M3 on an empty stretch of winding road. But if we needed to haul lumber or Labradors, the 2-Series Active Tourer begins to make a lot of sense.

BMW will offer a wide range of 4-cylinder gas and diesel-powered engines in the front-wheel-drive Active Tourer – all-wheel-drive will be optional.

U.S. sales are still “15-16 months” away, according to a BMW USA representative who spoke to us during the show. It seems highly likely BMW’s 240-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder will find its way into models headed to our shores in 2015.